There was a fan event today for the new Star Trek Beyond film, but the most interesting piece of news from it might be totally unrelated. As part of the presentation, JJ Abrams took a moment to defend the fan film, saying that the law suit ‘should not be happening’ and announcing that it was dropped. It was shortly followed by a tweet from Rob Burnett, the fan film’s director.

There hasn’t been confirmation yet, but it sounds like they intend to continue work on it. Justin Lin has been a vocal opponent of the lawsuit since at least March, so it’s nice to see him stick up for a fan project, legality of the series aside. One can only wonder if an arrangement was made to accommodate Axanar’s release and prevent any future issues (Partnering with Paramount, maybe? or Distro rights?)